With internet came globalisation, and with globalisation, the world became a global village…so they say.
Kenyans started pulling all sorts of information from all over the world, as opposed to being fed (pushed) with selective information. It only needs a smart phone and internet connection.
But it is because of this important technological advancement, the privilege to chose the information you want, that a new challenge is here- pornography!
A 2019 African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences study established that a majority (82.5%) of students spend less than an hour per week on watching pornographic materials.
Duale’s intervention
Garissa Township MP Aden Duale has had enough of this vice, that appears to be affecting not only children, but also adults.
Duale has sponsored a Bill that if passed into law, the Cyber Crimes Act will be amended to prohibit the sharing of pornographic materials.
The Bill proposes that any person sharing pornographic material on the internet should be slapped with a Ksh20 million fine or a 25-year jail term or both.
“A person shall not knowingly publish pornography through a computer system, produce pornography for the purpose of its publication through a computer system, download, distribute, circulate, sell or make it available in anyway from a telecommunications apparatus pornography,” Duale’s Bill reads.
Further, the days of pornographic websites are numbered, if the Bill passes into law. Duale wants government, through the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee, to block such “offensive” websites.
Kenyan leaders have in the past lamented of being harassed by unknown persons using pornographic material.
Kisumu Governor Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, in 2018, narrated how a young lady was flooding his phone with her nude photos. He reported the case to police.
The Bill is set to be introduced in National Assembly for consideration this week.